The 2001 asteroid FO32 makes its closest approach to Earth, giving astronomers the opportunity to study the rock as it passes.
The largest asteroid to pass through Earth this year has been its closest approach, not posing any threat of a cataclysmic collision, but giving astronomers a rare opportunity to study a rock formed during the start of our solar system.
According to NASA, the asteroid was two million kilometers (1.25 million miles) away, more than five times the distance between Earth and the Moon, but still close enough to be classified as an “asteroid.” potentially dangerous “.
NASA keeps track and catalogs of these objects that could potentially explode against Earth and trigger enormous destruction, such as the massive asteroid that killed 75 percent of life on the planet 66 million years ago.
The 2001 asteroid FO32, discovered 20 years ago, was too far away to be so dangerous, even when it reached the closest point to Earth around 14:00 GMT on Sunday, according to the Paris Observatory. NASA said it was traveling at about 124,000 km / h (77,000 mph).
“Oh, yes, friends! Do you see this point of light? That point of light is the asteroid, “exclaimed astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, of the Italy-based Virtual Telescope project, which had trained its lenses on the rock Monday shortly after its closest approach.
“How happy I am, proud, excited … to bring it live,” Masi said as he showed a grainy image of a pale dot during a YouTube broadcast.
Prepare these telescopes! On March 21, the 2001 asteroid FO32 will pass through Earth safely, giving astronomers a good look at a relic of the dawn of our solar system.
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Learn more about asteroids near Earth at the STI Repository https://t.co/6G1tNpnvNR pic.twitter.com/SNraoMWKRj
– NASA STI Program (@NASA_STI) March 18, 2021
Astronomers hoped to gain a better understanding of the composition of the estimated 900-meter (3,000-foot) rock as it increased.
“When sunlight reaches the surface of an asteroid, the minerals in the rock absorb some wavelengths while reflecting others,” NASA said.
“By studying the spectrum of light reflected from the surface, astronomers can measure the chemical ‘fingerprints’ of minerals on the asteroid’s surface.”
Because of its elongated orbit, NASA said it “increases speed like a skateboard rolling half a pipe and then slowing down after being launched into deep space and turning toward the Sun.”
Possible threats
The study of asteroids and comets approaching so close to our planet, called the Near Earth Object (NEO), allows scientists to better understand the history and dynamics of the solar system.
It is also a valuable database of potential threats: the impact of a huge rock in space could devastate the entire planet.
According to NASA, about 80 to 100 tons of material fall on Earth every day, such as dust and small meteorites, which pose no serious threat, but larger objects can cause significant destruction as they possess an immense momentum due to of its high speed.
In 2013, an object about 60 meters wide exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, triggering 30 times the force of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II.
Experts estimate that these events take place once or twice a century and the blows of larger objects are even less frequent.
NASA has said that more than 95 percent of asteroids close to Earth the size of FO32 in 2001 or larger have been cataloged and none of them have any chance of affecting our planet over the next century.
The agency is studying possible ways to counter the impact of an asteroid or comet, including a spacecraft hit the object to deflect it and even nuclear explosions as a last resort.